Jessica Ennis, one of the stars of an unforgettable summer of sport, has revealed the almost intolerable pressure of being dubbed the “face of the Games”.

In her new book, Unbelievable, serialised today in Times Sport, the Olympic heptathlon champion reveals “the pure fear” she felt before the 800 metres, the last of her seven events in London.

“The television set in the combined events room switched to the studio where Denise Lewis and Michael Johnson began discussing me. I put my fingers in my ears and ran out of the room. I didn’t want to hear what they were